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"Some people call me cocky and brash, but actually I am just self-assured. I'm nonchalant, im­perturbable, contemplative. I play it cool, but I can get hot under the collar. And above all I'm a very 'aware' character. I'm well aware that I am appearing in an animated car­toon....And sometimes I chomp on my carrot for the same reason that a stand-up comic chomps on his cigar. It saves me from rushing from the last joke to the next one too fast. And I sometimes don't act, I react. And I always treat the contest with my pursuers as 'fun and games.' When momentarily I appear to be cornered or in dire danger and I scream, don't be consoined [sic] – it's actually a big put-on. Let's face it Doc. I've read the script and I al­ready know how it turns out."

Bugs Bunny is the modern American Trickster and easily the most famous star of the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons, as well as the most famous cartoon character in the world (well, second most). This character as Funny Animal is found in many cultures' mythologies, including Reynard the Fox, Anansi the spider, American Indian spirit Coyote, and Bugs' great-grandfather, Br'er Rabbit. Bugs is specifically a Karmic Trickster: harmless when left alone, but gleefully ready to dish out poetic justice whenever he perceives the need. There is an element of education in his revenge.

Like many of his peers, Bugs' origins are unclear, lost in the mists of time and memory. Before him, The Marx Brothers were the premier American tricksters, and traces of their influence can be found in many of his best known mannerisms. (In fact, many people aren't aware that Bugs' saying, "Of course you realize, dis means war!" originated in films such as Duck Soup and A Night at the Opera.)

More directly, shy, timid prey unexpectedly turning on the pursuer was a common theme at the Warner Bros. animation studios in the early days — Daffy Duck made his debut in the same way. Director Ben "Bugs" Hardaway introduced the notion of this character as a "scwewy wabbit" in "Porky's Hare Hunt" (1938), and the same small white hare appears in various later shorts, notably Chuck Jones' "Elmer's Candid Camera" (1940). His name, first seen on-screen in the credits for 1941's "Elmer's Pet Rabbit", derives either from Hardaway's — model sheets were said to have been tagged with "Bugs' Bunny" — or the contemporary Brooklyn slang "bugs", meaning "crazy". Or both. Tex Avery, Friz Freleng, as well as Robert Givens, however, adamantly insist that Hardaway's Bugs was a completely separate character from the Bugs we know and love, that the name and species is all he shares in common with the real Bugs.

However it's generally accepted that Tex Avery produced the prototype of the smart, suave, on-the-ball wabbit we know and love today, in "A Wild Hare" (1940). Chuck Jones later made him more sympathetic by giving Bugs that iconic attitude of live-and-let-live, right up until he's pushed just thatone steptoo far, and then, it's war — "at which point [he] retaliates in every way he can imagine, and he is a very imaginative rabbit."

The job of any trickster, but especially the American type, is to think the thoughts and do the things that they say can't be thought or done. He's most likely to be found disturbing the complacency of his culture, or deflating the pompousness of its symbols. Since Bugs is also a comedy hero, he has the added advantage of Plot Armor that could stop an armor-piercing round.

His influence on modern American culture, like that of all the Looney Tunes characters, has been far-reaching to the point of ubiquity. For obvious reasons, though, Bugs is the especial favourite, especially in the theatrical years, getting more shorts than any of his co-stars, with a impressive 168 titles under his beltnote Not counting cameos and the four "proto-Bugs" cartoons. Naturally, he has spawned several imitators over the years, notably direct descendant Buster Bunny of Tiny Toon Adventures and Yakko, Wakko and Dot of Animaniacs — although these last three skew more heavily toward the Screwy Squirrel.

1938

Porky's Hare Hunt (LT, Hardaway): First appearance of the Bugs Bunny prototype. Here, he is a tiny, pudgy white rabbit with a Goofy-esque rural accent, who, in Ben Hardaway's words, was "Daffy Duck in a rabbit suit." Naturally, this prototype is far, far removed from the Bugs we know and love, being a mindless heckler, but with a touch of Groucho Marx thrown into the mixing pot, so this character at the least provided a foundation for the character of the Bugs we know. This prototype is also very similar to the earliest incarnations of Woody Woodpecker, who Ben Hardaway also helped write for.

1939

Prest-O Change-O (MM, Jones): Second sighting of the prototype, who has taken up residence in the house of the magician Sham-Fu, and heckles the poor pups who he encounters for no discernible motive. He has become slightly taller and slimmer at this point. Bugs' trademark ability to have objects come out of nowhere is presented here for the first time, although in the context of him being a magician's rabbit. The prototype is silent here, save for his Annoying Laugh. Public Domain.

Hare-Um Scare-um (MM, Hardaway/Dalton): Where Bugs is officially named as Bugs' Bunny—note the possessive term (applied to the model sheet prepared by Charles Thorson). He is still manic, but has now grown in size and sprouted apricot fur, looking closer to the Bugs we know. His Hammer Space ability is revisited, now presented in a non-magical context. He also hams it up with some sarcastic mock-pathos, which would be echoed in A Wild Hare and The Wabbit Who Came To Supper. This short is also infamous for having a lost ending that was cut out of most original prints, but has been found and included in Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Vol. 2.

1940

Elmer's Candid Camera (MM, Jones): Debut of Elmer Fudd. Bugs is almost fully realized as a character by this point, with his original Screwy Squirrel traits played down in favor of being more reserved and in control than before, but his character is still very underplayed. With that said, he still has some of his unmotivated heckler self left in him, pestering poor Elmer (who was just taking pictures) to the point where he has a nervous breakdown. Chuck Jones was not happy with this short, saying the rabbit was "Bugs with his umbilical cord in his hand looking for a place to plug it in." and that it should only be watched "If you are dying to die of innui."

A Wild Hare (MM, Avery) - Starring Elmer. Official debut of the fully realized Bugs Bunny. This short is a semi-remake of "Elmer's Candid Camera", but improves in what Tex Avery felt was flawed about "Camera"—such as only making Bugs a defensive character who reacts to a threat and plays off of villainous Elmer's stupidity. Oscar nominee. One of The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes.

Patient Porky (LT, Clampett): The prototype pops up for a gag in the first couple minutes, looking very close to Bugs' final design, but still having the manicness and laugh of the proto-Bugs.

1941

Elmer's Pet Rabbit (MM, Jones): Chuck Jones' first short with Bugs, and the first one to actually give his name. In this short he has an extremely foul temper and a nasty personality, both of which were hurriedly dropped afterwards. He also had a distinctly different voice in this short, sounding more like a yokel than the New York accent that he would be famous for (and which was previously introduced in "A Wild Hare").

Tortoise Beats Hare (MM, Avery): The first of the three "Bugs Vs. Cecil" shorts. Chuck Jones, in his opinion, considered it a failure, feeling that Tex had swapped Bugs' in-control, defensive personality in favor of making him the loser ala Elmer Fudd while giving Cecil Turtle Bugs' personality (but with all fairness, it did show us a whole different side of Bugs than before).

Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt (MM, Freleng): Friz Freleng's first effort with Bugs. Here, he is presented as rather passive, at least in contrast with the previous shorts. Oscar nominee.

The Heckling Hare (MM, Avery): The cartoon that caused Avery to leave Leon's cartoon studio to make cartoons for MGM. With that said, Avery finally managed to nail Bugs' defensive personality again, capturing what made him such a hit in "A Wild Hare".

Wabbit Twouble (MM, Cwampett) - Starring the Fat Elmer. Bob Clampett's first Bugs Bunny. It is rumored that this cartoon was started by Tex Avery but finished by Clampett, backed up by the fact that Tex and Bob planned it together early on. Here, Bugs goes right back to being a Villain Protagonist, pestering poor Elmer (solely because he set up camp in Bugs' territory). But wheras the earlier Bugs were fairly aggressive in their pestering, Clampett presents Bugs as going about it in a more playful, confident way, as if a nod to that Bugs knows exactly what he's doing, so in a sense, he's certainly not too Out of Character here. One of The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes. Public Domain.

Hold the Lion, Please (MM, Jones): A very bizarre take on the Bugs Bunny shorts, with Bugs having his vague personality, but little of what made him so popular in previous shorts, a clear testament to that Jones still didn't have a full grasp of his character.

What's Cookin' Doc? (MM, Clampett). Bugsy is presented as a very showboaty ham in this short. Clampett alledgedly make this short to make fun of Friz Freleng, possibly for his previous effort "Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt", being snubbed for an Oscar. Features large usage of Stock Footage from "Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt", although it's in the context of the story and not a mere corner cutting move.

Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears (MM, Jones): The debut of Jones' Three Bears characters. Runner-up on The 50 Greatest Cartoons.

Hare Ribbin' (MM, Clampett): Clampett once again presents Bugs as a defensive character here. The short is notable for having an infamous alternate ending, in which Bugs himself guns down the dog that was chasing him! This "Directors Cut" can be found on the fifth Looney Tunes Golden Collection. This short also features Stock Footage from "The Heckling Hare" and "A Wild Hare".

Hare Force (MM, Freleng)

Buckaroo Bugs (LT, Clampett): The only Bugs cartoon where he is explicitly presented as a straight villain role.

8 Ball Bunny (LT, Jones) - Second and last appearance of Playboy Penguin, and features a caricature of Humphrey Bogart. One of the rare times where Bugs becomes something of a Butt-Monkey. One of The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes.

Television specials with original material

Bugs and Daffy's Carnival of the Animals (Jones, 1976) - A combination live-action/animation 23-minute special, featuring interpretations of Ogden Nash poems set to the music of Camille Saint-Saëns. Bugs's first appearance in original material since 1964.

Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales (1979)

Bugs Bunny's Christmas Carol (Freleng) - Starring Sam and Porky.

The Fright Before Christmas (Freleng) - Starring Clyde and Taz.

Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over (1980)

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Bunny (Jones/Monroe) - Starring Elmer.

Spaced Out Bunny (Jones/Monroe) - Starring Marvin and Hugo. Last short with Mel Blanc voicing Bugs.

Bugs Bunny (and his cartoons) have shown the following tropes:

100% Adoration Rating: In numerous cartoons and films, Bugs is depicted as universally beloved by his fans and audiences and can get big rounds of applause for anything he does, whereas Daffy has a 0% Approval Rating and is driven to insanity trying to get some respect himself.

He plays the opposite end of the role perfectly to the envious Daffy Duck however; Chuck Jones has even stated that Bugs is meant to be everything Daffy isn't.

There was also the one time he went up against a gremlin in an airfield in the short "Falling Hare". He was hopelessly outclassed.

Ambiguously Bi: And not just because of all the cross-dressing. Bugs seems to have no qualms being kissed by all of the men who fall for this scheme (of corse it's only to get them close enough to hurt them), and in some of his cartoons with Wile E. Coyote, they're practically flirting. The operative word on occasion is heteroflexable.

Ambiguously Jewish: The Brooklyn accent, among other things, but also subtle things, like when he mentions having grown up playing Pisha-Paysha after being challenged to a game of blackjack (by Blacque Jacques Shellacque in Bonanza Bunny). The fact that his actor was a Jew might have had something to do with it.

American Accents: Mel Blanc gave his wascally wabbit a Brooklyn accent so distinctive, it's the standard to which actors strive for their own Brooklyn-based characters. Bugs' accent is actually a seamless blend of the Brooklyn and Bronx accents called Flatbush, after a community in Brooklyn where Mel had first heard it.

Badass Adorable: Despite being an anthropomorphic rabbit, Bugs is so cute that he almost outsmarted every enemy he stumbles upon! He even does a puppy eyes face when he was about to be killed by Witch Hazel in Broom-Stick Bunny.

Beastly Bloodsports: "Bully for Bugs" has him facing off against a strong, fast and smart bull in a rather unconventional bullfight.

Beware the Nice Ones: Most of the time, he's very cheerful and friendly, but if pushed far enough (usually by people who keep bullying, cheating or threatening him or others), he's more than happy to retaliate.

Bizarre and Improbable Golf Game: "My Bunny Lies Over the Sea", in which Bugs competes with a Scotsman in a game of golf. Needless to say, the rabbit fudges the rules a bit, like digging a trench to lead the ball into the hole, for instance.

Bowdlerise: Like all the Warners' animated output — indeed, that of all the major American studios during and just post-WWII — some of Bugs' shorts are not very politically correct. At the height of the Pacific campaign during the war, he starred in a blatant bit of propaganda called "Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips." He also appeared in Black Face on more than one occasion, including a short parody of Al Jolson's The Jazz Singer.

Baby Face Finster. Not really a baby, just a midget bank robber in disguise.

Breakout Character: Much like Donald Duck before him, Bugs' popularity ended up eclipsing his predecessors, Porky and Daffy. The difference however is that Bugs eventually became the face of the company and remained so to this day.

Bring The Anchor Along: "Buccaneer Bunny" has Bugs Bunny hornswoggled into rowing Shanghai Sam's ship across the sea, with the rabbit affixed to his post with an ankle shackle attached to a heavy iron ball. Nonetheless, Bugs is able to carry it to the Captain, demanding that he rid the rabbit of this device. Shanghai Sam complies by throwing the ball overboard ... taking the rabbit with it.

Broken Ace: While Bugs is usually the cunning protagonist, writers took care to balance this with the odd fall-guy role so as not to lose audience sympathy. In keeping with the character's cockiness, though, when Bugs was a loser he was often a very sore one.

Bullet Dancing: Subverted in "Bugs Bunny Rides Again," where Bugs breaks into a full-bore softshoe routine when Yosemite Sam tries this trope on him. Then Bugs yells "Take it, Sam!" and Sam does — straight into an open mine shaft.

The Bully: In several early shorts, Bugs would harass outmatched opponents for the sheer fun of it. The creative team soon eased him out of it by making his opponents this, though were fearful pitiful adversaries such as Elmer Fudd weren't provocative enough and were still leaning him dangerously into this trope.

Cavalier Consumption: Bugs often does this, as a possible holdover from his days as a Screwy Squirrel. When asking "Eh... What's up, Doc?", he's often feigning caring, and is even asking and talking while chewing.

Cement Shoes: Mobsters Mugsy and Rocky try this on Bugs in "The Unmentionables".

Chained to a Railway: Including one notable instance in which Elmer Fudd is tied to the tracks, and the "Super Chief" (namechecking a famous passenger train of the time) runs right over him — a long line of little bunnies following Bugs, who's wearing a feathered headdress.

Civilized Animal: Although his behavior is entirely human, he still lives in a burrow and has to worry about being hunted or eaten. There was an odd situation in the cartoon "Hare Splitter" where Bugs and his rival live in furnished burrows and wear only their fur, while their contested girlfriend lives in a frame house and is fully dressed.

Played with, along with every other gun cliche known to man, in most of the Yosemite Sam shorts. Bugs once used a trick shot on Sam that not only parted Sam's hair, but split his hat as well.

Elmer once did this to Bugs' ears.

Closet Shuffle: Bugs does this in "Racketeer Rabbit." Virtually duplicated in "Bugs and Thugs" with Rocky and Muggsy, once as a prank and once for real.

Cloudcuckoolander: While Bugs was almost always more intelligent than his foes, he was far from lucid in most of his early appearances. This was tamed as his character evolved, though still makes the odd showing here and there.

Cornered Rattlesnake: Made an increasingly pivotal part of his character, particularly in the Chuck Jones shorts. Bugs was not allowed to heckle opponents unless they provoked or harassed him, then it was war.

Bugs: (Rushes into a room, screams are heard, he rushes out and closes the door) Err, um... a Hare-em, I think.

Genie: (opens the door and looks in, to more screams) Oh, that was a harem all right. I know a harem when I see one.

Cry Laughing: In the short "Knighty Knight Bugs", Bugs does this after the king tells him to retrieve the singing sword from Sam or else he [the king] will have to cut off Bugs' head.

David vs. Goliath: Especially true of Chuck Jones' Bugs, who has taken on bulls ("Bully for Bugs") and professional wrestlers ("Bunny Hugged")

Deadpan Snarker: Arguably the most famous and iconic Deadpan Snarker in western animation.

Depending on the Artist: In the late forties it was easy to tell who had directed which Bugs cartoon just by looking at Bugs's design. Friz Freleng used the design which we all know and love today (although initially, he used a more odd rubbberhose design for him prior to the mid to late 40s), Chuck Jones had a slightly different version with larger eyes, larger cheeks and more pointy teeth (having initially drawn him more round), and Robert McKimson (plus, for his sole Bugs Bunny outing, Arthur Davis) had a majorly different version with stubbier legs, a slight pot belly, more slanted eyes, long teeth, and a huge mouth that flapped around like a windsock whenever he talked. And Bob Clampett had an incredible variety of ways to draw Bugs, since he gave his animators more leeway in deviating from the model sheets. At the end of the decade, the differences became a lot less pronounced. Some artists would even play this up for comedic effect. Picking out Rod Scribner's and Robert McKimson's animation of Bugs in a Bob Clampett cartoon is considered almost the entry level for identifying Golden Age artists' styles. "Buckaroo Bugs" is probably the easiest instance to distinguish Scribner and Mc Kimson's styles, because there's a scene late in the film where Scribner's animation abruptly switches to Mckimson's animation in the middle of chewing a carrot!

Early Installment Weirdness: The early shorts are very strange to watch if you're familiar with the Bugs from the late 40's and onward—one must understand that in his infant years, the directors stumbled across Bugs entirely by accident in A Wild Hare, and didn't quite "get" what made Bugs such a hit at first. and this is supported by the early batch of post-Wild Hare shorts like "Elmer's Pet Rabbit", "Tortoise Beats Hare" and "Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt". It wasn't until "The Heckling Hare" and "All This and Rabbit Stew" when they started to get a clue as to what Bugs was about, and even then Chuck Jones still took a while to fully understand Bugs' character.

Final Words; Averted so deliciously, as Bugs would utter the "Oooh, I'm dying! Everything's getting dark ... " speech to make Elmer Fudd or someone think he's been shot, poisoned, etc. ... just before "miraculously recovering" to give his foe a swift kick in the ass!

Yosemite Sam was actually created to combat this. After a few cartoons, it rapidly became apparent that Bugs Bunny could think circles around Elmer Fudd so thoroughly that, even when Elmer was clearly the antagonist, Bugs still looked like the bully. So they created Sam to give Bugs an opponent who was smart enough (or at least belligerent enough) to give Bugs a challenge and keep him from Flanderizing into a villain. After a while, even Sam had become ineffective, and so both Marvin The Martian and the Tazmanian Devil were introduced to bring in a fresh new threat (proving slightly more effective).

According to Robert McKimson, Jones' Flanderization eventually became a problem with the staff, making him so reserved and impenetrable they noticed he was starting to lack much of a sympathetic personality. As such some of his last cartoons actually try to dial him back a small degree, making him a bit more hyperactive and abrasive again.

The Fool: Even when he isn't using pure wit to defeat an adversary, he seems to have lady luck (and the villains' bumbling) on his side. Lampshaded in "Hare and Loathing Las Vegas"; he has his own pair of lucky rabbit's feet.

Friendly Enemy: Whenever they aren't after his blood in some manner, Bugs tends to be rather easy going and sometimes out and out charitable to his foes. Granted the fact they are often Animated Actors plays a lot into this.

Freudian Trio: The Kirk Bugs is often considered the leader of the Looney Tunes. He's smart and lovable like Porky and wisecracking and prone to mischief like Daffy.

In "Lumber Jack-Rabbit", Bugs Bunny sings the first four verses of "Jimmy Crack Corn", which is about a slave being happy that his master got killed by an out-of-control horse that got bitten by a "blue-tail fly". How the episode development team got all four of these verses past the censors in a cartoon even for children is beyond us.

In "What's Cookin' Doc?", Bugs decides to show a clip of one of his past performances to show he deserves the Academy Award - except the first clip they show is a "stag reel" (what they called porn back then), and he has to shut it off. All they show is a picture of a stag with exotic music playing in the background, but still.

In another cartoon, Bugs is first seen reading a book titled "Multiplying;" he quickly hides the cover when he thinks someone is looking at him.

Go-Karting with Bowser : Taken to extremes. Bugs often had a very forgiving demeanor to the many individuals that tried to con, maim or even kill him so often. Justified as it's all part of the show.

Gone Horribly Right: In "Rebel Rabbit," Bugs is offended that rabbits have a bounty of only 2 cents while foxes and bears are worth $50 and $75, respectively, on the grounds that rabbits are "perfectly harmless" compared to them, and vows to prove that rabbits can be just as bad. In doing so, he becomes a Person of Mass Destruction by, in this order, attacking a guard with his own billy club, renaming Barney Baruch's private bench as "Bugs Bunny," painting barbershop-pole stripes on the Washington Monument, rewiring the lights in Times Square to read "Bugs Bunny Wuz Here," shutting down the Niagara Falls, selling Manhattan Island back to the Indians, sawing Florida off from the rest of the country, swiping the locks off of the Panama Canal, filling up the Grand Canyon, and literally tying up the railroad tracks. Bugs does indeed prove that rabbits are just as bad as bears and foxes and earns a $1 million bounty... and for his efforts, he's hunted down by the entire US Army and imprisoned in Alcatraz.

Bugs: [as he surrounded by artillery shells in a foxhole] Could it be that I carried this thing too far? [the shells explode; cut to Bugs in a cell in Alcatraz] Ehhh, could be.

A Looney Tunes staple that was lampshaded in "High-Diving Hare", wherein Yosemite Sam ties him up, quick-marches him up onto a high-diving platform and out to the end of the board, then saws off the board in order to force Bugs to go through with his diving act... only for the diving platform to suddenly collapse and bring Sam down with it, while the diving board itself hangs in midair. "I know this defies the law of gravity... but I never studied law!"

Also done in "A Star is Born", when Daffy saws off the limb of a fake tree trunk. Bugs was sitting on said limb. Unfortunately for Daffy, the only part being held by invisible strings is said limb. The tree instantly falls over.

Let's not forget "The Heckling Hare", which has Bugs and his antagonist Willoughby the dog falling off a cliff for a very long time. Averted at the end when they skid to a stop before hitting the ground.

In "Falling Hare", the bomber that Bugs and the gremlin are in goes into a steep dive, during which the wings tear off, but it stops in midair right before hitting the ground:

This is revisited in "Hare Lift": when the huge plane goes into a dive (after Bugs pulls out the control column and throws it out the window) and Yosemite Sam bails out with the only parachute available (not forgetting to shout at the rabbit, "So long, sucker!", leaving Bugs on the plane, the rabbit pulls a lever on the plane. The plane screeches to a halt in midair.

Bugs: Lucky for me this thing had "air brakes"!

In "A Star is Bored", Bugs puts a jet into a steep dive as part of a movie stunt, but halts it mere feet above the ground. He then swaps positions with his stunt double (Daffy in a rabbit suit) who crashes into a heap when the cameras roll again.

Referenced in Looney Tunes: Back in Action, where this works until the female protagonist points out that this shouldn't work, upon which gravity kicks back in again and they land in a crumpled heap.

Incessant Music Madness: "Long-Haired Hare" begins with Bugs playing various instruments (a banjo, a harp and a tuba) and singing while an opera singer is trying to rehearse, leading the opera singer to smash Bugs' instruments and beat him up.

In Buckaroo Bugs, Bugs is the villain of the piece, a western outlaw named "The Masked Marauder", who steals carrots and humiliates the wimp of a cowboy sent to bring him in. While Bugs was the antagonist once or twice, he never again "got away with it" like he does here.

Karma Houdini Warranty: Bugs also took the role of the sadistic animator in Duck Amuck, one of few roles he tormented Daffy just for fun. While Daffy is powerless to stop him in the cartoon, in Rabbit Rampage, he ends up paid back in his own coin by Elmer Fudd. Fittingly Bugs had a history of heckling Elmer unprovoked and getting off scot free in earlier cartoons as well (eg. "Wabbit Trouble").

Karmic Trickster: The writers actually had a set of rules they always followed when writing Bugs Bunny cartoons to make sure Bugs didn't become an out-and-out bully. For starters, Bugs himself never started fights; he could retaliate all he wanted, but he never antagonized. On occasions when he did dole out punishments his victim didn't deserve, things would start going wrong for him. Best example would be "Rebel Rabbit" where Bugs is incensed that the bounty on rabbits is mere pennies, and sets out to prove that Rabbits aren't harmless by wrecking the country in funny ways. (Sawing off the state of Florida, filling in the Grand Canyon, literally tying up the railroads) In the end, he's hunted down by the armed forces and put in Alcatraz Prison, where he concludes that maybe he "went a little too far".

Knight of Cerebus: Many Warner directors, particularly Friz Freleng, were bent on making a more challenging Rogues Gallery for Bugs, fearing that earlier, more docile foes such as Elmer Fudd failed to provoke him and leaned his characterization more into that of a smarmy bully. Yosemite Sam was the first attempt at this, being ineffectual, but far more violent, relentless and conniving than Elmer, and often playing on Bugs' more altruistic image. When Sam started to lose his edge, Chuck Jones created Marvin the Martian, contrasting Sam by being affable and polite, but actually competent and dangerous enough to evoke fear from Bugs.

Most humorously in "Barbary Coast Bunny" where Bugs walks into a crooked casino where all the games are rigged, and still cleans the place out.

Also in "Bonanza Bunny," where he plays 21 with Blacque Jacques Shellaque and holds on only one card. Blacque Jacques draws two tens of Spades for a 20, but Bugs' single card is a '21' of Hearts.

Bugs does something similar to this in "Hare and Loathing in Las Vegas", where when playing blackjack against Yosemite Sam, Sam as dealer gets a twenty with two cards and Bugs reveals that he has 21 aces. In fact the whole short seems to be based on this trope.

The punchline of "Rabbit Hood" is that Robin Hood has been MIA for most of the film, and when he finally appears, it's live-action footage of Errol Flynn from The Adventures of Robin Hood. A dumbfounded Bugs comments, "That's silly, it couldn't be him!"

"Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers" uses this to a disturbing effect.

Meet Your Early Installment Weirdness: One later drawing of Bugs by Chuck Jones (which can be found in one of his biographies) has Bugs reacting in horror at the sight of a picture of "Bugs' Bunny", his alleged prototype, from "Hare-Um Scare-Um".

The Easy Way or the Hard Way: Often to show his laid back nature, Bugs would try placating his foes first. When they kept biting however, the gloves were off.

Menace Decay: Bugs was always a Karmic Trickster, but in the early shorts he was much more hyperactive and relentless about it, and didn't mind taking things above and beyond self defence either. As the creative team felt a greater need to make Bugs look more heroic, he became tamer and laid back, rarely that proactive unless a foe was antagonising him at that very moment.

Multiple-Choice Past: Variously described as being from Manhattan (in shorts like "A Hare Grows in Manhattan") and Brooklyn, though his accent is a Flatbush accent.

My Instincts Are Showing: One of the things that can outsmart Bugs (at least in the short term) is luring him with carrots. See: "Mad as a Mars Hare".

Bugs: Darn it. Betrayed by my baser reflexes again.

Negative Continuity: As with all the other Looney Tunes, each Bugs short starts off fresh. The sole exception to this, and probably all the old shorts in general, is Tortoise Wins by a Hare, which directly references its predecessor, "Tortoise Beats Hare", by having Bugs watch the actual cartoon on a home movie projector, but due to some plot details being ignored (such as that Cecil blatantly cheated in the first race, something Bugs has seemingly forgotten) it probably falls under Broad Strokes as well.

No Fourth Wall: Bugs often spoke directly to the audience, usually to make a smart-aleck comment about whatever was happening at that moment.

Not So Invincible After All: The writers had a field day with these. While usually making it through each short with hardly a hair out of place, every now and then Bugs' luck would run out and he would be made the Butt-Monkey to another, usually underestimated foe.

Official Couple: Since the 90's, Bugs has often been paired up with Lola Bunny. Their relationship has varied from medium to medium, but they usually end up together at one point or another.

Outdated Name: "Bugs" or "Bugsy" was a reasonably common nickname in the '30s for someone known to be a little crazy, especially if their given name started with B. The slang fell out of usage and now the cartoon rabbit is just about the only well-known Bugs in popular culture.

Out of Focus: Despite being Warner Bros.' biggest star, Bugs vanished after 1964's "False Hare". That is, until he returned in 1979's "Bugs Bunny’s Christmas Carol". Since then, he's appeared in several of the sporadically released post-1969 shorts.

Paper-Thin Disguise: His enemies will only realize it's him when they see his tail or ears, having not noticed Bugs' fur or little bunny nose.

Parody Magic Spell: Used in "Transylvania 6-5000". Bugs starts reading a book about magic words that contain the words "Abracadabra" and "Hocus Pocus." Unbeknownst to him (at first, anyway), "Abracadabra" turns the vampire into a bat, and "Hocus Pocus" turns him back into a person. He starts singing the words in a song, transforming the vampire back and forth (Hilarity Ensues)... then starts mixing them up in the song, "Abraca-Pocus" and "Hocus-cadabra", making half the vampire transform, i.e. a human body with a bat's head, then a bat's body and human head. Then he throws out, "Newport News!" which changes the vampire into an ugly witch, and finally, "Walla Walla Washington!" which turns him into a two-headed vulture.

Pop-Cultural Osmosis: Some people would be surprised to know that Bugs and Elmer only shared 35 pictures out of Bugs' 168 shorts.

Projectile Toast: Bugs himself lampshaded this in "To Hare is Human" (when Wile E. Coyote attempted to replace the carrots in his toaster with grenades): "One of these days, I'm gonna hafta have that spring fixed."

Rascally Rabbit: 'Scuse us, that's "Wascawwy Wabbit!" Bugs constantly uses his trickster tactics to outwit and harass everyone. In the early days he was something of a Screwy Squirrel and would just prank others for his own amusement. Over the years he became more of a Karmic Trickster and only went after those who struck first.

In the 1944 short "What's Cookin' Doc?", Bugs believes he's a shoo-in for Best Actor at the Oscars, but James Cagney wins it instead, causing Bugs to have a meltdown. He ends up getting a Booby Prize Oscar, shaped like him.

Bugs is awarded a Nobel Prize in The Looney Tunes Show episode "The Shelf." Subverted when this genius bunny succeeds in demolishing his entire house while building a shelf to display his award.

Bugs argues with the humorless Kate Houghton during Looney Tunes: Back in Action about rehiring Daffy Duck, and bolsters his argument with four Oscar statuettes and a chunk of granite with his Walk of Fame star on it. For the record, four Warner Brothers cartoons have won an Oscar, but only one went to a Bugs Bunny cartoon: "Knighty Knight Bugs." Bugs Bunny also has an actual star on the Walk of Fame.

In the short "Super-Rabbit," Bugs becomes a Marine at the end. In real life, the U.S. Marine Corps were so thrilled by that ending that they actually inducted Bugs into the force as a private, complete with dogtags; he was regularly promoted until the end of World War II, where he was officially "discharged" with the rank of Master Sergeant.

Siege Engines: in "Knighty Knight Bugs", the Black Knight (Yosemite Sam) uses a catapult to try to launch himself into a castle window.

Sore Loser: The lesser-seen aspect of his personality; during the rare moments where Bugs is on the losing side of things, he does not take it well. See the trilogy of his shorts with Cecil Turtle, and Rabbit Rampage.

In "Mississippi Hare", Bugs dresses as a Southern Belle to escape Colonel Shuffle, and tricks another man into tossing the Colonel off the steamboat. Bugs' skirt then gets snagged on a gate, stripping off the back half. The man takes one look at the "lady's" exposed cottontail, throws a fit and jumps ship. "Aw, well. We almost had a romantic ending."

The same gag is used in "Hare Trimmed", with Bugs pretending to be a widow that Yosemite Sam wants to marry. They are halfway to the alter when Bug's train gets caught in a nail, and Sam notices just as he's about to say "I do." It's The Last Straw for Sam and he runs out having a meltdown.

Super Not-Drowning Skills: Bugs can apparently breathe underwater, since almost all of "Hare Ribbin'" (save the opening) is set underwater!

Tim Taylor Technology: Wile E.'s massive computer in "To Hare Is Human" has all the answers for catching a rabbit, but none of them work. Except for the last when the boulder end of a booby trap is descending upon him:

Unsportsmanlike Gloating: Sadly, Bugs has been known to sink to this level on occasion. His foes became more and more arrogant themselves to circumvent this (though of course in their case it is just Tempting Fate).

Villain Protagonist: Bugs was generally a defensive character, but there have been several episodes where he became this, especially in his early years. But barring a handful of exceptions, Bugs was never portrayed as malicious, but as a practical joker who knows its all an act, and is just rolling along with the situation.

Bugs Bunny is fond of odd pronunciations. "Maroon" for "moron" is perhaps the best known. Part of it is his accent, but much of it seems to be affectation. Bugs does use "moron" in Tortoise Beats Hare. He was also known to mangle the word "imbecile" (which he pronounces as "im-BES-sel").

Bugs says "nave" instead of "naïve" at least once, but also says "naïve", so at least this one is likely intentional.

Bugs also has trouble saying Aluminum, either calling it Alu-mini-um or extending it to Aluminumminumminum.

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